If you know me, have read any of my posts, or a have traveled to my social media pages, you know that I am BIG into living a healthy lifestyle. In our household, we make sure the kids get a balanced meal, we get in enough exercise for the day and live a healthy lifestyle. That being said, it was a no brainer when my first daughter was born that I would be breastfeeding her for the next 12 months. It is the healthiest thing for the baby, it helps bond mommy and baby, and it saves money…A LOT OF MONEY. I had heard that breastfeeding was a bit more challenging than I thought so I did what any new mom would do and took a class, talked to friends and family, and watched a couple of YouTube videos to get me started on the right path. I was ready for this baby to come.
Fast forward to the first month with our new baby girl. The reality of breastfeeding hit me HARD! I was sleep deprived, my milk didn’t come in strong, and this whole breastfeeding thing was WAY MORE DIFFICULT than I had planned. Why was it easy for some moms and pretty near impossible for others?
Taking Annora to the lactation consultant to figure this thing out, the advice they gave me was a bit much to take. They suggested I go on something called a pumping vacation. Basically you feed your baby and then pump immediately following, feed the baby and pump, feed the baby and pump, etc. I did that for several days only to have no success. As I tried to navigate this new “norm,” I found myself falling into a bit of a depression. Why wasn’t my body cooperating? Why couldn’t I supply enough milk to feed my baby when other moms seemed to have a refrigerator and freezer full of it? Why was I failing at motherhood right out of the gate? How am I going to feed my baby right?
Oh the thoughts that went through my head. They were nothing but destructive. I did the whole pump and supplement thing for quite a while and I had to come to the realization that it was ok to stop nursing and start formula full-time. It seemed that every friend going through “mommyhood” with me was breastfeeding and things were going smoothly so it was a natural reaction for me to be a bit down about it. If you are feeling the same way, it is ok that you are choosing the best thing for you and your child. You fought the good fight and did your best, which is all anyone can ever ask for. The amount of support I received from family and friends was beautiful and made the transition much more flawless. Once Annora was solely formula fed, the pressure of feeding her enough simply drifted away and I found my happiness again.
My point to this post is not to feed your baby formula because breastfeeding is too difficult. The point of this post is to encourage you to do your best and sometimes that means stopping breastfeeding so that your child can thrive. I wish I had a blog out there talking about this issue, a way for me to connect to like-minded mommies who struggled with the decision to formula feed.
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